How Could You
by Frae
Summary: Jak comes home from Spargus. Keira learns some heartbreaking news. What will become of their "relationship"? Jak x Keira one shot. FLUFF WARNING.


**Not really one of my bests, but I had this in my head for so long and it was just begging to get out.**

**I couldn't just ignore the poor thing. Plus, it was really fun to write.**

**ADVANCED Critique is definitely welcome so that I may write a better version later.**

**(Hahaha)**

**Enjoy.**

_It's today,_ her mind told her.

_You get to see him, TODAY! Can you believe it? It feels like it's been forever. You lucky girl!_

Keira's lips stretched out into a wide smile as she tightened a screw on some part of some machine she was working on. Her excitement overpowered her concentration, so she really had no idea what she was, "fixing".

She was absolutely elated. She couldn't fathom the happiness that was welled up inside her.

_He_ was finally coming home.

Jak. Her Jak.

He had been in Spargus for what seemed like forever, and he was returning home.

Today.

_C'mon, hurry up already! _

She fidgeted with the screwdriver in her hand and set it down to pick up the communicator that was lying on the floor next to her.

_Daxter said he would tell me as soon as they came home… why is it taking so lo-_

And as if the Precursors heard her, the communicator rang.

She jumped, what felt like, 20 feet in the air and answered it.

"He-hello? Daxter?"

"Hey hey, baby!" a friendly voice greeted from the other line.

Keira could hardly contain herself.

"Daxter! I never thought I'd be _this_ happy to hear your voice! Mar, where are you guys? Are you coming home soon? How's Jak?"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down, sweetheart. Everything's fine. We're like, 10 minutes away from you guys. We'll be there soon!"

Her heart pounded in her chest with excitement.

"Really? That's great! Um…hey, can… can you put Jak on… please?"

"Haha, sure thing sweethea—WHOA!"

"Daxter? Daxter, what's wrong?"

No answer.

"Daxter, are you there?" her voice became worried.

"Yeah, baby, I'm here. Uh, listen, Jak can't exactly talk right now… he's kinda_ busy_…"

She could hear a smirk in his tone.

"What? Whaddya mean?"

"Um, I'll tell ya when we get home. See ya later, sweet cheeks!"

He hung up before she could protest.

_Aauugg… dammit, Daxter!_

She sighed and put her head in her hand.

_Just ten more minutes, Keers. You can wait that long._

She walked over to another machine and decided to busy herself with that until they arrived home.

After what seemed like forever, she became impatient and threw her wrench on the ground which resulted in a loud clanging noise.

"Whoa, you alright there, honey?" a voice called from behind her. She turned around to see Tess in the doorway. She smiled.

"Oh, hey there, Tess. Yeah, I'm alright. I'm just a little antsy for their return…"

Tess smiled really wide.

"Well you'd better stop what you're cuz they just got back!"

Keira's eyes widened and she bolted out the door before Tess could say anything more.

She ran into the bar and clutched onto a chair to catch her breath. At one of the tables, she saw a group of people, some she recognized, some she didn't, circled around Jak, Daxter and Ashelin.

"Jak! Daxter!" she cried.

They both turned around. Jak's face brightened.

"Keira!" He said, taking a step towards her.

Daxter also turned.

"Oh, hey, Keira" he turned back the group he was talking to. "And lemme just say, IT. WAS. HOT!"

Jak stopped in his tracks and his and Ashelin's eyes widened in panic, but before they could say anything, Daxter continued.

"These two," he said, pushing the sides of their heads together, "shared a lovely moment, just after Jak here made himself into a hero, yet again."

Keira's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Dax, what are you—"

"I mean," he continued, "That Mr. Jakky boy and our lovely Miss Ashelin were SUCKIN' FACE like they've never sucked face before! Ha ha ha… oh, what I would've given to be him at that moment."

Keira's heart felt like it stopped and her throat knotted tight. She felt her stomach twist painfully and warm tears fill her eyes.

_Wh…what? He… kissed her?_

Her eyes automatically flickered over to Torn who was failing his attempt to hold back an agonized expression.

She was probably failing as well.

Her breath became uneven and she shut her eyes tight and swallowed her tears.

Anger, jealousy, and undeniable sadness filled her entire body. She wanted to yell at Jak or strangle Ashelin, or something else of that nature. However, something strange happened instead.

Her lips curled up into probably the fakest smile she had ever conjured. She let out a dry laugh and with an unusually sincere tone, said,

"W-well, it's about time… isn't it."

_What the hell?_

Jak's head darted in her direction, his eyes reflecting confusion.

"Keira…?"

She avoided his gaze and squeezed her upper arm.

"I… I was beginning to wonder… when you… would…"

He stepped closer to her, but she backed away and shut tight her eyes to keep the tears from falling.

He opened his mouth to say something but she beat him to it.

"I have to go."

Without another word, she turned around ran out, to the safe haven of her garage. Jak stood there completely dumbfounded. No one else but Ashelin seemed to notice what had just happened.

"DAMMIT!" Keira, hissed as she threw her face protection to the ground. She slammed her back against the wall and slid down to a sitting position and cried in her knees shamelessly.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" She said over and over, pounding her fist to the ground.

"Why couldn't I get mad at him? Why? Have I become such a weakling?" She sniffed hard and almost violently wiped her tears from her cheeks. She sighed and shut her eyes again, knowing perfectly well why she couldn't get mad at him.

_It's because I love you, dammit!_

She sighed again as more tears made their way down her face.

"And besides… It's not like I could actually get mad at you…" she swallowed.

"It's not like we're… together or anything." She finished bitterly.

More tears raced down as she buried her face in her knees. She realized at this point that she was talking to herself, but she couldn't care less. She needed to voice her thoughts.

"After everything…" She whispered after a few minutes of calming down.

"After all of the childhood memories.

After all of the awkward teenager moments.

After all of the tender gazes and sweet smiles..." She sniffed lightly.

"After the almost kisses…" Her voice had become considerably smaller.

"This is what you do to me.

You take my heart in your hands and care for it.

Then some clothes-less tramp shows up and you throw it out like it's nothing!"

She slammed her fist to the ground again.

"I LOVE YOU, DAMMIT!" She sniffed and wiped away her tears though it seemed pointless to do so because her arm bands were pretty much soaked in them already.

_Why did you do this to me?_

"Keira…"

A gruff, yet gentle voice came from the direction of the door.

Her head whipped around and she stood up to see a man standing in the doorway.

"Jak!" she said, quickly wiping the remnants of her tears away.

"I-I was just fixing this…" She motioned to the machine to her left. "I didn't hear you come in. How long were you standin-?"

"Keira," he interrupted. His eyes met hers with a sad look, only to quickly avert them. "I… I heard everything."

Her breath hitched and her eyes darted to the floor.

"Oh… uh, well… you see, I-"

"Keira," he said once again, looking at her, "I'm sorry…"

Keira's eyes shot up to him. For some reason, this made her feel a bit angry.

"You're sorry." She repeated.

His eyes moved away from hearing the tint of anger in her voice.

"Lemme get this straight. You go and kiss the 'hottest girl on the planet' and come back and _suddenly_ remember who I am – the girl who _really_ cared about you- and say you're sorry."

Jak's eyes were fixed floor. "Keira… it's not like that…"

"Oh, so you're not sorry."

_Whoa, calm down, Keira. What the hell are you saying? _A little voice nudged her.

She ignored it.

"No!" He answered, meeting her eyes again. "I _am_ sorry, it's just that…nothing… nothing really happened out there."

She shot him a disbelieving look

"So you're telling me Daxter's lying." She said. Jak's eyes widened slightly.

"N-no, he's not lying… but-"

"But, what?" She interrupted, crossing her arms. She may not have been able to get mad at him for cheating on her in their non-existant relationship, but she could as sure as Mar get mad at him for lying to her face.

He sighed and continued.

"The kiss… it didn't mean anything. She was just thanking me for what I did." Keira cocked an eyebrow.

"So you can give away kisses to pretty girls like her, but not kiss me once? Even after we've tried? TWICE?"

Keira stopped herself there and put a hand over her mouth.

_Wait, what did I just say?_

"Hey, look," he said, sounding a bit more assertive.

"Those times weren't my fault. Trust me, I wouldda kissed you like there was no tomorrow if Daxter hadn't interrupted us."

She met his eyes again and to her surprise, they looked extremely sad. Her heart ached a bit at that expression. She raised her eyebrows slightly and he shifted his eyes elsewhere.

"The truth is, Keira…" He almost whispered.

"I love you too." His eyes went to her again, this time looking sincere and innocent like they had back in Sandover.

She knew this look.

It was him, telling the absolute truth. She knew this because back then, his eyes were his only means of communication.

He was telling the truth.

He really did love her.

She wanted to be mad at him. She wanted to break his heart like he did hers, but she just couldn't.

Seeing those big eyes again, after years of seeing only scowls and anger, just made her crumble to pieces.

"Jak… I-"

"You have every right to be mad at me, Keira." He started eyes leaving her again. "I know what I did was wrong… I was high on adrenaline but that's no excuse… You've no idea how much I regret it."

_Mar, Keers, lighten up! He's being sincere and you know it!_

Her heart softened and she made her way over to him.

"I didn't mean to hurt you… I just-"

He couldn't finish. She had wrapped her arms tightly around his middle and buried her face in his chest.

"I know." She mumbled. He was a bit shocked by this sudden change in attitude, but quickly realized that she was forgiving him. He smiled in relief and wrapped his arms around her as well, burying his face in her hair.

"Keira…" was all he could say. She looked up and cupped his face.

"I forgive you, Jak." She said as she gently rubbed his cheek with her thumb.

They both smiled and leaned in closer until their noses were touching.

"Just don't do it again…" she murmured as the gap between their lips began to diminish.

He smirked and replied, "Don't worry… you're the only one that can have me."

He brought his hand to her face.

They were centimeters apart when suddenly, that voice that ALWAYS seemed to be there at the wrong time spoke up.

"SHEESH! You two are just a pile of drama, aren't you?"

They broke away from each other to see Daxter standing in the doorway.

"Lemme tell you something, Keira baby. I've never EVER seen Jak act like sucha pussy than I have just now. Trust me sweetness, he loves ya. If he didn't he wouldda given you attitude at, 'You go and kiss the 'hottest girl on the planet,' sentence."

Keira cocked an eyebrow and smirked.

"Well, maybe if it wasn't for your loud mouth, I wouldn't have gotten mad at him in the first place." She said jokingly.

Daxter raised his hands in defense.

"Hey now, that may be true, but you also wouldn't have gotten a confession out of Jak-dearest, now would you?"

She smiled at him, then looked at Jak.

She ran her hand through his semi short locks and said, "That's true… very true."

The smile on both of their faces grew bigger.

Their kiss may have been interrupted yet again, but at least she was in his arms, knowing that he loved her as much as she loved him.

**Yes, I know, CORNY.**

**But that's alright…**

**Fluffy one-shots are meant to be corny.**

**I hope you enjoyed it **

**Reviews are lovely things, though not required.**

**Thank you for reading!**

**~Frae**


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